Boiler water feeder



April 29, 1947. CHANDLER 2,419,821

BOILER WATER FEEDER Filed March 10, 1944 INVENTOR Patented Apr. 29, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOILER WATER FEEDER Milton E. Chandler, New Britain, Conn. Application March 10, 1944, Serial No. 525,816

3 Claims.

The object of this invention is to apply my invention on fluid level control mechanisms covered in my co-pending application, to boiler water feeders, with certain additional features which are particularly useful and advantageous to such devices.

This fluid level control mechanism is simple to manufacture, large forces may be applied to operate the mechanism, it is protected against dirt, and as applied to water feeders, it provides a mechanism that is not subject to the sometimes violent fluctuations in level that occur when water is boiling. The float controlled pilot valve is removed from contact with hot Water, so as to prevent boiler deposits from clogging it. It also may be so installed that only the float part of the mechanism is located at the boiler while the water control mechanism is remotely installed in the most convenient location.

Also there may be added to the fluid level control mechanism a simple and efiectual means of shutting off the burner or Stoker whenever the water level is too low or water is being fed into the boiler.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the preferred form of the invention. Figure 2 is a sectional view looking up at 68.

is a water boiler, 43 an oil burner connected by pipe 44 to the firebox 80 of the boiler, 34 a room thermostat controlling the burner or stoker, 69, the fluid level control mechanism, 42 the water supply under pressure to the control mechanism, and 28 the water connection to the boiler, and I2 and I3 are passages connecting the boiler to the fluid level control mechanism.

The water inlet valve 23, made preferably of resilient material, is attached to and is part of disc 2| which supports diaphragm 22. Diaphragm 22 is clamped between casing members 55 and 56, and thus is a common flexible wall formin chambers 20 and 26. Valve 23 co-operates with seat 35 of water inlet passage 4|, to open or close the passage between 4| and chamber 26. Chamber 26, by means of passage 28, is connected to the boiler at the most advantageous point.

Tube 51 is connected to and extends through valve 23,'and passage 46 in tube 51, having restriction 39 at its entrance, protected from dirt by conical deflector 48, is a means of allowing the pressure in 4| to be transmitted to chamber 20 and permits, under some conditions, water to flow from 4| to chamber 20. Projectors 40 on tube 51 will hit partition 38 having passages 36 and 31 in it and control the upward movement tube 51.

Rod 24 resiliently connected at 58 and 60 to electrical contacts 33 by means of spring 59, is

held in contact against disc 2| by means of spring 3|. Flexible bellows 32 surrounds rod 24 and is attached to it and opening in casing member 56 in such a manner as to permit its relatively free movement but at the same time to efiectually seal it against leakage from the boiler. The spring 3| is strong enough to overcome any pressure in the boiler that would tend to prevent rod 24 from rising when disc 2| is lifted.

When the valve 23 is seated, the downward force on disc 2| acting on rod 24 causes electrical contact to be made at 33, 65, and 66 so that if the thermostat 34 calls for the burner 43 to start the circuit will be complete. If the valve 23 is off its seat, the rod 24 will be raised by spring 3|, breaking the electrical contact at 33 and either stopping the burner or preventing its starting. Spring 59 has a very high spring rate so that the contact 33 will be lifted. whenever rod 24 rises, but it does have enough flexibility so as to allow valve 23 to seat on seat 35 after the electrical contact has been made.

Chamber 2|! is connected by means of passage M in extension member 54, attached either directly or remotely to casing member 55 at 61, to chamber 10, and by means of holes 6 and 1 to chamber 2 of housing 64. The casing members 55 and 56 with their operating mechanism as indicated as being below line 51, may be located where most convenient, and connected by any type of tube or pipe to extension member 54 and its mechanism located at the boiler as shown.

Chamber 2 of housing 64 is connected by passages IE and I3 to the inside of the boiler and it is designed to maintain the boiler water level at 50.

In chamber 10 is small float 4 to which is attached valve stem 5. Valve stem 5 extends through and is guided by partition |8 in which are fluid passage holes l5 and H which may be restricted if desired to produce the best results. The partition and holes are an effective way of preventing hot water heating the water in the lower end of extension 54 and causing boiler deposits to clog valve 52 which is attached to stem 5 and co-operates with valve seat I9 to either open or close a passage l4 between chambers 20 and 10.

If the holes 6 and 1 are unduly large, the device will function as though there were no chamber 10. If holes 6 and 1 are restricted, the level in chamber 10 will not respond to violent fluctuations of level in chamber 2, and further, if properly restricted, the level 5| in chamber at which the buoyancy of float 4 is suiiicient to cause valve 52 to shut off seat I9 will be attained only after the level in chamber 2 is at a higher level. Float 4 will thus be acted upon by an additional buoyancy force as soon as the level in 10 reaches the level of fluid in chamber 2. V

The functioning of the device is as follows. As shown in Figure 1, the water in the boiler is at the proper level and float 4 and pressure in chamber 29 are holding valve 52 on its seat 19, preventing any outlet from chamber 20.

The pressure in chamber 20 is therefore water inlet pressure by means of restriction 39 and passage 46, which pressure acting on diaphragm 22 is suiiicient to close valve 23 on seat 35 against the force of spring 30. As valve 23 is on its seat, rod 24 in contact with disc 21 is forced down and electrical contacts are made at 33, 65 and 66, and if the thermostat 34 calls for heat, the circuit may be completed to the burner 43, through con. nection 49, and it will start.

If the level of Water in the boiler should drop for some reason, the level in 10 would lower, and at a certain point the weight of float 4 would overcome the remaining buoyancy and the force of the pressure in chamber on valve 52 and the float would drop suddenly causing valve 52 to leave seat 19 and allowing the pressure in 20 to drop because restriction 39 in passage 46 would not allow water to enter chamber 20 as fast as it escapes through valve 52 and seat 19. As soon as the pressure in 2D lowered suii'iciently, which would happen very quickly, the upward force of spring 38 on disc 2| would cause the disc and valve 23 to rise and allow water to flow into chamber 26 and then into the boiler (I) through passage 2-8. At the same time the lifting of the disc 21 would cause rod 24 to be raised because of the force of spring 31 on it, and the electrical I contact-33 would be broken at 65 and 66 and either stop the burner or prevent its starting.

Assoon as the level in the boiler and in chamber 53 rose sufficiently, the level in 10 would rise until the buoyancy of the water would raise float 4 and cause valve 52 to shut off against valve seat I9. The pressure in 20 would immediately rise, and the valve 23 would be seated against the force of spring and electrical contact again made at 33, 65 and 66, either starting the burner or permitting it to start if the thermostat'called for heat.

Due to the restrictions ofholes 6 and 1, the level in 2 will be higher than in 10 at the time the valve 52 seats, but in a few moments the level in 10 would rise to that of chamber 2, thus holding valve 52 on its seat with an additional buoyancy force.

From the above description it is obvious that the correct water level will be maintained in the boiler, and that during the period that water is entering the boiler, the burner will be shut off or prevented from starting. If the water supply has failed for some reason, the burner will be unable to again start. This device is thus'a combination boiler water feeder and safety device, although both features need not be utilized unless desired.

I claim as follows:

1. In combination, a boiler in which a given fluid level is normally maintained, a source oi. water under pressure, a chamber normally under water inlet pressure, a second chamber connected to the boiler, a third chamber connected to the boiler both above and below the normal water level, a water inlet valve to said second chamber controlled by the pressure in said first chamber, an outlet from said first chamber, connected to said third chamber and controlled by the level in said third chamber, an automatic boiler heater opererated by an electric motor and switch for said motor, controlled by pressure in said first chamber.

2. In combination, a boiler in which a given fluid level is normally maintained, a source of water under pressure, a. chamber normally under water inlet pressure, a second chamber connected to the boiler, a third chamber connected to the boiler both above and below the normal water level, a water inlet valve to said second chamber controlled by the pressure in said first chamber, an outlet from said first chamber, connected to said third chamber and controlled by the level in said third chamber, an automatic boiler heater operated by an electric motor and switch for said motor, controlled by pressure in said first chamber so that when the water inlet valve is open the motor switch is open to prevent the running of said motor.

3. In combination, a boiler in which a given water level is normally maintained, a source of water under pressure, a chamber connected to the boiler above and below said water level, a second chamber connected to said first chamber by flow restricting holes located below the normal water level and by an unrestricted opening above the water level, said second chamber connected to a third chamber normally under inlet water pressure, a valve controlling the outlet of said third chamber to said second chamber connected to a float in said second chamber and controlled by water level in said second chamber, a fourth chamber connected to the'boiler, a water inlet valve controlling the flow of water into said fourth chamber which is controlled by the pressure in said third chamber, an automatic boiler heater operated by an electric motor and switch for said motor, controlled by the pressure in said third chamber.

MILTON E. CHANDLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,188,112 Temple June 20, 1916 1,121,596 Bannister Dec. 15, 1914 987,048 Connet Mar. 14, '1911 1,695,471 Roucka Dec. 18, 1928 2,228,552 Arbogast Jan. 14, 1941 

